Waisted wearing apparel having pleats



Jan. 7, 1958 M. w. HILLS WAISTED WEARING APPAREL HAVING PLEATS Filed March 25, 1957 INVENTOR.

Marie W. Hills Attorneys United States Patent 2,818,575 WEARING APPAREL HAVING PLEATS Marie "W. 'Hills, *Seattle, w sh, .assign'or to Foster-Hockberg Manufacturing 00., Inc., a corporation of Washington Application-March 125, 1957,,Serial No. 648,006 TcIEiimS. "(Cl. "2-21 1) This invention relates to waisted wearing apparel, :particularly waisted wearing apparel having pleats and wherein such pleating is performed in a manner produc- :ing an attractive and finished appearance 'uponboth sides thereof so thattthe garment can -be worn with either such side exposed, in other words producing a garment which admits of being reversed. Reversing a garment 'of this nature perforce enables the wearer to choose [between either :of two ,patterns where :the :material employed :is such that the two sides-of :the ,garment :presentxditferent patterns. .-A garment which riS :ma'de .11evcrsible is furthermore advantageous :from :the standpoint of allowing the wearer, should a garment become spotted, to reverse :the same until facilities :for cleaning are available.

Ehe presentxinvention pertains especiallyvto that portion of a ,pleated zgarment, skirts :in particular, extending :from the approximate hip line to the waist, and namely rthat gportion :in which the ip'leats "are :stit'che'd. 'ilihese stitched pleats anene'cessarily narrowed above the hip linerin order :that the garment will {properly ifit the waist, and the proacedure Iin accomplishing this i-narrowing, heretofore, has beenone of easingithe pleats. While %easing"ris:moderately successful tin removing 1puckering, ithere :nev'ertheless remains a certain degree of bunehing. 'iIhe object ."of rthejpresent inventioniisrto provide: an improved means and method :of :forming :stitche'd zpleats, and particularly stitched :pleats on a reversible :garment, so as ?to obviate :bunchiness without :recourse to the itimeaconsumin g and, at best, :only moderately successful "Ee'a'sing procedure.

The ipresent invention consists the novel :oonstruo tion, adaptation and zcombi'nation tot parts, and in the :new method of :construction, hereinafter :described and claimed.

In the :accompaningzdrawings:

Figure his aitragmentary viewrofithe tront-ofthe skirt I having :pleats produced in accordance with the preferred teachings of :the spresent iinvention.

"Fig. 23 is a horizontal sectional wiew showing the gar- :mentinithe initialsstagezoftforming the pleatsyandnamdy 'ipl'odlll'ilng asueces'sive z'lo'o'ps :a'n'd sewing the "two fianks of these 'loop's together rat the "root end-s.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view portraying a --'following step which is performed upon the garment, and namely the step ofsIittingthe inside hank'o'f'each loop longitudinally :and l' ippinglthe "edges of the slit.

,Fig. .5 is.a view showing the finalstep of construction inwliih'the loops are laid back and stitched in place, the figure being a fragmentary view essentially in elevation with a median portion broken away. For maximum clarity it is assumed that the part broken away has been cut on the slope so that the several thicknesses along the upper edge of the lower portion will be visible and thus permit the same to be shown in section, the overall effect being to suggest somewhat of a perspective showing. In the actual garment the exposed flank of each loop is substantially planar from the root to the apical extremity t2 rather than, as would appear in this view, having an intermediate jog. The final line of stitching is, moreover, .a tight rather than :the loose stitching here shown, the loose stitch being illustrated in -'order that spaces will appear between the web, the flank, :and :the fly components of each of the pleats and ihus .renderthese :components more easily distinguishable; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view drawn to -a.scale giving to the pleats a greater width \than that -.of the preceding sectional views and thus permitting an illustration more true-to-life than that of Fig. v5.

,In producing the pleated garment according to the teachings of the present invention the first step \is to form a succession of the pleats by folding the material in the :manner portrayed in Fig. ,3 into .multiple loops, and namely so that each loop :10 is separated :from the next adjacent loop by a web .11. Each loop,-considered :from its root 'endito rthe apex,t has a length approximately :the same as that'of'the web tfrom substantially the .-low.er :edge-of the garment to the hip iline. Within this .area the loops iremaiu as -.loose folds, being devoid of any -.con nesting sstitohlines. :Above the hip .line the irofoteends of each loops flanking faces are connected by stitching :12, and this stitching is applied along converging lines so :that the length tr-ansv.erse span) of :the webs progressively decreases from .theliip line toward the waist proper, thus giving :the garment :in the region of the :waist the inar-rowingzsize which-is perforce :needed if thersame is to :mold itself :to the body of \thewearer. This narrowing 0f :the webs perforce results .in ia progressive increase :in :the length 0f the il'oops.

It is :here :pointed out that these :several tloops, ilIl :the tlater'stepof producingthe garment, ane-laidbackso that one flank dfi ofeach loop:overlies-.the=web. For 'easemof adescription this flank '13 will :be hereinafter :termed "the inner .flank while \the ::other flank, denoted by 1 1, will be termed-.theputer flank. iffor mauimum -clarityiin 'atn understanding of :therinv'ention-1:hauezshoWntthe loops 33S Fb eing slit at this stage of :the operat-ion, andinamely :after the (root ends :have been fstitched at 1-2. I wish to here p oint :out that while the -invention \Cal1 10f icourse rbe performed by following this -:procedure it is my finding, u'n :aetual practice, that2it ispreferahle :toiperformwthe slitting before :the gpleats are sewed. The "slits occur :along substantialcenter -.-line of :the :innerxfl'ank;andaextendclongitudinally from :the extreme upper edge 'to approximately thelowlimihofthe stitch [lines 12. Thusseachrinner flank become'sdivided into twosectionsiorflies 15-and :16. The rnexts-step :is %to .-lap :these flies .while :coincidently :laying such-lapped .fiies back against ,theirelated web, whereupon, a:1ine of stitching 517 corresponding tor approximately corresponding in length :to kthe;stitchrlines 312 :is applied along the bight or apex of each loop,:making:such;apical edge'fast tofthe web. .This stitching :17 "passes through four layers of material, "to-wit: (:11) the outer and (:(2?) the inner flank :of :the concerned loop immediately :a'rljacentzthetapex, (-3) the underlyingiweb 1 1,:.and ('4) --the rootifly'ls of the :next adjacen'tzloop. ilzh'e istitchtlines 11-2 and 1-7, while .they :aretorrmaytbe spaced apart: at :the upper limit i of :the stitched ipleats, (converge and substan- :tially .mer;ge :atE-the Elowerao'r t hi'p line limit of itheistitehed pleats.

The garment, or that portion thereof with which the present invention is concerned, is completed by applying thereto a waist-band 18. This waist-band is composed of a strip of material folded upon itself along its longitudinal center line, and the two flies thereby produced overlie the front and back faces of the garment along the upper edge, depending somewhat below said edge and having a line 20 of stitching applied so as to pass through the stitched pleats together with both folds of the waist- 3 band. It will be apparent that this stitching Z locks the lapped flies and 16 of the slit flanks 13 against disarrangement.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a garment is produced in which no bunchiness occurs in the stitched area of the pleats and one which may be worn with either side exposed with little diflerence in general appearance. The lines 17 of stitching are exposed while the stitch lines 12 are blind. This, however, adds to rather than detracts from the desirability of the garment in that it creates the impression of a different garment, as of course do garments in which the type of material used produces a different pattern upon one side than upon the other.

The skirt of the present invention, in accordance with the usual practice of reversible skirts, employs a doubleheaded zipper, and namely one having pull-tabs upon each of its two sides.

The invention is thought to be clear from the foregoing detailed description of my now-preferred illustrated embodiment. Minor changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is accordingly my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language admits.

What I claim is:

1. A waisted garment having stitched pleats extending from approximately the hip line to the waist limit thereof with said stitched pleats comprised of a succession of loops separated by connecting Webs and characterized in that said Webs progressively diminish in width toward said waist limit, the loops being all folded back in a corresponding direction so as to overlie the adjacent web and being of a length, considered from the root end to the apex, such that the apex of each loop laps the root end of the next adjacent loop, the inner flank of each loop of said stitched pleats providing an open-end slit extending longitudinally on the approximate center line of the flank from the waistline limit to approximately the hip line of the garment and having the two flies which lie at opposite sides of said slit lapped so as to reduce said length of the loop progressively from the closed to the open end of the slit, the stitching for each pleat being in two lines one of which lies at the root end and passes through both flanks and the other of which lies adjacent the apex and passes through both flanks together with the underlying outside flank of the adjacent lapped loop and the root fly of the inner flank of said last-named loop.

2. The garment of claim 1 having a folded waist band into the fold of which the upper or waist end of the stitched pleats is inserted, and having a horizontal line of stitching passing through said folds of the waist band and the inserted material of the stitched pleats to secure the waist band in place and additionally lock the lapped flies against disarrangement.

3. A garment according to claim 1 in which the firstnamed line of stitching is concealed from view both from the front and from the back of the garment.

4. A waisted garment having stitched pleats extending from approximately the hip line to the waist limit thereof with said stitched pleats comprised of a succession of loops separated by connecting webs and characterized in that said webs progressively diminish in width toward said waist limit, the loops being all folded back in a corresponding direction so as to overlie the adjacent web and having a length, considered from the root end to the apex, at least as long as the transverse span of the webs, the flank of each loop which lies to the inside being slit longitudinally on the approximate center line of the flank from the upper or Waist line edge to approximately the hip line limit and having the two flies which lie at opposite sides of said slit lapped so as to reduce said length of the loop progressively from the closed to the open end of the slit, the stitching for each pleat being in two lines one of which lies at the root end and passes through both flanks and the other of which lies adjacent the apex passing through both flanks together with the material of the garment which underlies said apex.

5. A waisted garment having stitched pleats extending from approximately the hip line to the waist limit thereof with said stitched pleats comprised of a succession of loops separated by connecting webs and characterized in that said webs progressively diminish in width toward said waist limit, the loops being all folded back in a corresponding direction so as to overlie the adjacent web and having a length, considered from the root end to the apex, at least as long as the transverse span of the Webs, the inner flank of each loop of said stitched pleats presenting an open-end slit extending longitudinally on the approximate center line of the flank from the waist-line limit of the garment for a substantial portion of the length of the flank and having the two flies which lie at opposite sides of said slit lapped so as to reduce said length of the loop progressively from the closed to the open end of the slit, the stitching for each pleat connecting the root ends together and additionally securing the apical end to the material of the garment which underlies said apex.

6. The garment of claim 5 having a folded waist band into the fold of which the upper or waist end of the stitched pleats is inserted, and having a horizontal line of stitching passing through said folds of the waist band and the inserted material of the stitched pleats to secure the waist band in place and additionally lock the lapped flies against disarrangement.

7. The method of producing stitched pleats in the waist section of a skirt, comprising folding the material of said waist section into a succession of loops separated by connecting webs and stitching the root ends of the two flanks of each loop together along stitch lines so placed that the intervening webs progressively diminish in their transverse span toward the waist limit of the skirt and are no wider at their widest point than the shortest length of the loop considered from the said stitch line to the apex, slitting a like flank of each loop longitudinally along the approximate center line thereof from the waist-line edge to a point approaching the low limit of the stitch line and lapping the flies which are provided at opposite sides of said slit so as to reduce said length of the loop progressively from the lower to the upper end limit of the stitched loop, laying the slit flank of each loop back against the adjacent web, and stitching the apical end of said loops to the underlying material so that the same are held fast thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,791,779 Presson May 14, 1957 all. 

